I’ll admit it. We’ve been BAD. VERY BAD. BLOGGERS!

The many small dogs we walked



We visited Vermont and walked lots of dogs, and saw Carly, Kyle, Antoinette, and Jess!

Antoinette & Jess

Carly & Kyle and their new home!

Lido Deck on our Cruise Ship

Monacco

Monacco

The Ruins of Pompeii

Sicily

The Island of Stromboli

The 1992 Olympic Stadium in Barcelona

Barcelona

View from the Top of the Leaning Tower



The Colosseum



The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Woot woot!

Erica, the Bride

Allegra & Robin



Erica & Josh We did the Race for the Cure in Vermont

We celebrated 40 years of marriage with Casey’s Parents!

We vacationed in Islesboro with Mom & Stacey, and took in a little piece of heaven, did a lot of reading and a lot of relaxing!

 We repainted our kitchen cupboards (still a work in progress!

Mom and I introduced Casey to the wonder that is Groton!

 

Found this website that gives writing prompts, so we’ll try it out!

1.What were the circumstances surrounding your most embarrassing (physical) stumble?
    
           The one I remember most vividly was walking (and I mean WALKING) into a glass door when I was in Mexico with my Mom. I cracked my glasses and everything! Very embarassing (and painful!)

2.As summer winds down and autumn makes its approach, what are you most looking forward to in the changing of the seasons?

           There are lots of things I love about fall. Walking in the cool weather, leaves crunching under my feet, hot chocolate, chex mix, and so many more. This fall, I think I am looking forward to undertaking some steps for major change. Overhauling the house, moving things into storage, and getting ready to sell our house on our own. An adventure for sure!

3.What’s something you’ve recently fallen for?

            Onetruemedia.com   ~ I love making montages, and they make it SO DARN EASY!!!!

4.Of what has there been a shortfall in your life recently?

             Sleep? down time? Looking forward to getting some of that on our vacation in Isleboro in a few weeks! 

5.Has there been any kind of windfall in your life in the past few months?

             I wish. There has been a windfall of lessons I suppose – about who you can trust, who will be there when the chips fall, how to let go, how to move on, how to keep hope. Lots and lots of lessons. So many that I think I need a break from all the life lessons.

IT’s OK. . . .

– to eat generic cheerios for lunch because you haven’t gone grocery shopping

– to unfriend people on facebook that annoy you *everyflippingtime* they post

– to skip a workout in favor of cuddling with your husband

– to screen your calls, work or otherwise

– to sit and read an entire book when you should be doing paperwork

– to spend idle time looking at houses for sale on the internet dreaming of the future

– to cry. at random. without reason

– to admit you need help

– to have a creemee for dinner (soft serve ice cream, for Non-Vermonters)

– to feel overwhelmed by BIG.STRONG.EMOTIONS sometimes

– to wear your jammies all day long

– to leave the air mattress blown up after your guest departs, so you can watch DVD’s laying down in the living room.

It’s all OK, it’s THURSDAY!

Have a good one folks,
Jenn

Who you would have looked like.

I think I’m crazy most days, because by lots of definitions – you never were. You were gone before I even knew you were there. How can I miss you? The very idea of you? I think I miss you because you were so very wanted. Because I don’t know if they will ever be another of you. Because I loved you before you even existed that short time. I think of you often, and can’t express how sorry I am that you are gone.

Love,
The Mom that Almost Was

I wrote this post awhile ago, and Blogger ATE IT. Ahem. So, because I think it’s a good topic, I’m going to blog about it again.

As likely all of you know by know, Casey and I have both lost a significant amount of weight. But like the trauma that I address with the kids I work with, my overweight life has not let me move on.

                                                                      I am a triathlete.

                                                             I look like this today
                                (the day I wrote this actual post – the first time, about a month ago)
                                                   (weight loss maintained for 3 YEARS)

But when I look in the mirror, I don’t see this – any of it.

I see this –

 or,

I can’t look at pictures without critiquing EVERYTHING. My hair, the leftover skin left behind by the weight loss. Oh, it’s bad. I annoy everyone, (even myself) with constant questioning of “Do I look fat?” and so on.

It makes me sad and angry with myself, and I vow over and over again to myself that I will make a more conscious effort to stop – but these negative thoughts pour through my mind on a daily basis.

I’m not the only one – I think women in particular have such struggles with self image, and I am certainly among them. As a gender we have a hard time taking compliments, and a very easy time picking out faults – whether it be wrinkles, collar bones sticking out, gray hear, loose skin, stretch marks, etc.

I can take compliments on my work, my choices, my personality even – but when my husband tells me I am beautiful, I can’t accept that.

In my work, I do a lot with kids around changing negative thought patterns – it’s super hard. We all fall into the traps of negativity, around whatever we feel vulnerable about. My appearance? Makes me feel vulnerable.

I will continue to try and accept the new me, the real me. Someday I do hope to have money to do the surgery to remove the excess skin, especially around my arms – because it keeps me from feeling like I’ve lost any weight at all.

But I need to be gentle with myself, no matter what I look like, because it doesn’t define who I am. What defines who I am, is that I accomplished a huge goal – I reduced so many risk factors for developing health problems, I completed a triathlon with my husband, I am healthy. And that’s what really matters.

So, I encourage you as well – be gentle with yourselves. Maybe we can all learn how to do that, together 🙂

WOW. We got back from our cruise on July 4th, and I feel like I haven’t stopped moving since! Not even enough to sit down and chit chat about how AFREAKINGMAZING our trip was (yeah, that’s a word. promise).

I’m not quite sure how to break it down, but I know this is going to take a few posts because we did and saw a lot. It was overwhelming!

To begin with, my very worst fears came 100% true the day we set off on our adventure. Our flight wasn’t supposed to leave until 1:00pm, so I was scheduled to see a couple of clients in the morning before we left. I went into work, and saw one client, my second cancelled. THANK GOODNESS. Because my second client cancelled, I checked my phone and I had a message from the airline saying that our flight was cancelled. WHAT?! Can they even DO THAT?! (uhm yes, yes they can. Airlines have too much power). They had an earlier flight available, so I drove like a bat out of hell to drop off some paperwork and get to Standish to meet up with Casey. My in-laws were able to bring us to the airport early and dropped us off. We made it with about 20 minutes to spare.

Is that the last of the travel troubles? OH DON’T I WISH.

Once we made it to Newark, NJ (fondly now nicknamed, “Hell on Earth”) we ate lunch. We noticed our gate wasn’t posted for our flight out of the country. We figure, well, we’re a few hours early they must not have an open gate. So we read. We chat. We walk up and down checking the gates. Never comes up. About a hour before our flight, we start to get concerned and go looking for answers (which in the Newark airport are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get). We got different answers from THREE different people about where we were supposed to be going. By the time we got there, our flight was “locked down” and ready to go. EVEN THOUGH IT WASN’T SCHEDULED TO LEAVE FOR 45 MINUTES. They airline worker LAUGHED at me and said “Oh well, you missed it! Nothing we can do.” I cry. I text my Mom. I cry some more. Casey on the other hand, stayed calm (a true switch of roles).

WELL.

If you know us, you know that the answer “there’s nothing we can do” was not good enough. WE WERE GOING ON A RELAXING EUROPEAN CRUISE ON JUNE 24, 2011 COME HELL OR HIGH WATER (what does that phrase even mean?!)

Anyway. We met an Angel. Not really. But we did meet an amazing Newark worker who helped us get onto another flight to Frankfurt, Germany and then a new connecting flight to Barcelona. Like magic, we were on an international flight and on our way.

The rest of the flying part was relatively uneventful. We learned that international airports (all the ones we visited in Barcelona, Frankfurt, Geneva) were much more calm and peaceful. You don’t have to strip down to your underwear to go through security (though it’s funny to spot the Americans stripping down and taking off shoes while the workers go “no, no! you don’t have to do that!”) In general, the pace of the world seemed much more relaxed outside of the United States.

When we finally made it to Barcelona I nearly cried at the sight of my luggage miraculously arriving with us (despite the flight changes), and the Carnival transportation waiting for us. We made it 20 minutes before our ORIGINAL flight would have made it. That’s how much our Newark Angel helped us. I wish I had gotten her name so I could write a long and flowing note of gratitude. We owe our vacation to her!

                              To say Casey was excited would be a gross understatement. (He’s not a serial killer, promise)

We will be back with another entry on the first half of our vacation: Monacco, Pisa, Naples, and Rome in a few days (or however long it takes for me to sit down and have 10 consecutive minutes again. No promises!) I apologize if you were deathly bored by the travel entry, but I don’t want to forget a moment, so you’ll have to live with it!